Cold Thunder
by White Wolf97
Summary: takes place three years after the 4th Great Ninja War. The Allied Shinobi have won, and life has gone back to normal in the Ninja World, when a new threat appears. Akatsuki supporters- second generation thieves and criminals unite under a crazy woman- threaten to destroy every ninja village in the world. Two Shinobi will come together to fight these criminals. Will they survive?
1. Chapter 1

Cold Thunder

By Zach Alspaugh

And

Morgan Hutchens

1

It had been three years since the fourth Great Ninja war had finally ended; three years since Uzumaki Naruto cut open the Ten Tails, releasing all of the tailed beasts. In that time, seven new jinchuuriki had been made, sealing each beast away from the world. Also in that time, a Jonin by the name of Inozuma Raijin began to turn up again and again in the Great Nations, puzzling the five Kage and many of the Shinobi Alliance. Who was this Ninja? Where did he come from?

He was 19 years old, and he wore a black jacket with a large hood that drooped over his face, casting a dark shadow around his eyes. His hair was dark and spiky, which contrasted greatly against his pale white skin. Upon his head, he sported a headband with the most curious of symbols: a thundercloud with a lightning bolt jutting from it. Strapped across his back was a large scroll, with bore the same symbol. From afar, he seemed to have almost a frightening appearance. It was obvious to all those who came across him, Inozuma Raijin was not a Ninja to be fucked with.

At present, Raijin found himself standing outside of the famous and somewhat notorious Hidden Leaf village. He had been there once before as a child, before it was destroyed by Nagato and his six Paths of Pain. Not much had changed, save for the new statue that had been carved into the side of the mountain that sat behind the village. He guessed thus statue must be in honor of the Fifth Hokage, a woman of whom he was not familiar. Casually, he stepped past the invisible barrier that surrounded the village, alerting the Barrier team of his presence.

Shinobi surrounded him at once, ready to apprehend him if he attacked. He smiled to himself, Leaf Village Ninja had definitely stepped up their game since the attack of Pain. The tall one who stood in front of Raijin was the first to speak,  
"Who are you? What business have you in Konoha?" His voice was scratchy, and very irritating.

"I'm making a pit-stop," Raijin said, looking the Ninja in the eye. The Shinobi adjacent to him spit on the ground.

"We can't trust you yet, we've no idea who you are. I don't even recognize what village you're from. I've never seen that symbol before." She said, regarding his headband. Silently, he mused over her light blonde hair that she wore all tied back, except for large bangs that hung over one side of her face, hiding one of her light blue colored eyes. Raijin sighed, nodding.

"I heard about the attack on Konoha a few years ago, I understand why you need reassurance. But, unfortunately my home village no longer exists, and thus I am merely a traveler. You can call my Raijin. Inozuma Raijin."

The scratchy voiced shinobi looked to the girl, asking if she thought Raijin was legitimate or not. She shrugged, nodding yes. Konoha must not have had many threats since the war had ended.

"To be safe, you'll be assigned a chaperone to accompany you throughout the village until you decide to leave. If you need an inn room, he will make the arrangements," the girl then smiled to herself, "I know just the man for the job."

The female shinobi brought Raijin to the door of a large house that rested in the middle of the village, upon which had a pendant with the insignia _Akimichi_. Raijin raised an eyebrow; the Akimichi clan was prized for their strength and unusual expansion jutsus, so why would such a shinobi of their stature stoop to chaperoning a traveler? Had the blonde shinobi seen him as a threat?

Before she could knock, the door opened. A stout shinobi stood in its place, rubbing his eyes. He seemed to have just awoken moments before, for his clothes had a disheveled appearance and his eyes had dark circles under them. He greeted the female shinobi wearily, smiling.

"Hey, Ino. Whats up?" he yawned. The girl, Ino, smiled back at him before turning to Raijin.

"Choji, this is Inozuma Raijin. He's a traveler and needs a guide to get him through the village. I figured as the next head of your clan, you could use the training." She winked at him, Choji nodded to her. Raijin again raised his eyebrow.

"Training?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Compassion is a priority in the Akimichi clan, and helping a wayward traveler is just the type of training if I am to lead my clan soon!" Choji said excitedly, pointing his thumb to his chest. Raijin shrugged, and Ino looked at Choji once more.

"I'll see you tonight, Choji," she said under her breath before turning to leave. Raijin watched her walk down the gravel path away from the house.

"She's an odd shinobi," he said to Choji, who had stepped onto the porch and shutting the door behind him. The Akimichi ninja nodded in agreement.

"I've never met one like her," he put his hand on Raijin's shoulder. "I'm guessing you came for a place to spend the night and get more supplies, right? Come with me, I'll escort you there."

"Okay, I need to get a bite to eat first. I've been traveling nonstop for five days now, I ran out of supplies some time ago. Can you take me to a market or grocery?" Raijin's stomach growled.

"Of course, come with me. There's a nice hotel in by the Hokage's headquarters, too. We'll go there after we eat and shop."


	2. Chapter 2

2

In a small cave hidden in the central area of The Land of Fire, a short Ninja girl sat curled up near a fire. It was obvious that she was not a native to her current location, for she wore a large, knitted parka and long black slacks. Her hair was ice white, and she wore part of it up in small pig tails at the side of her head. Around her neck, she wore a ninja headband which inscribed the unmistakable symbol for the Land of Snow.

She wasn't alone, for next to her was the most curious of equines. He had a large rack of reindeer-like antlers perched on his head, and in fact, his whole essence was reindeer-like. Instead of having the usual markings of a horse, his underbelly and face were white, and his backside and neck were brown. The shinobi girl leaned against him snugly.

Her name was Xue Luke, and her companion was a male tonakai no uma, but his given name was Zuoji. He nuzzled her lovingly, and she crept closer to the fire as morning wind swept through from the entrance of the cavern.

"I know, I know. We've run out of food. I think we are near a village; we'll go and get some soon." Luke said the Zuoji. The tonakai put his head on the ground next to her.

She was definitely in the Land of Fire; that was obvious by the area's geographical features. Moving a strand of hair out of her eyes, she thought for a second as she stared into the topaz colored flames in front of her. She remembered from her studies back in the Land of Snow, that the largest village in the Land of Fire was the Hidden Leaf village. The village, famous worldwide and also equally infamous worldwide, was run by a Hokage, though she couldn't recall who the current one was. In the last village Luke had been in, Tonika, she had overheard a pair of shinobi talk about the latest Hokage, but not in the most decent of ways.

She poked the fire with a nearby stick, sending crackling ashes into the air. Under her breath she whispered, "Water Style: Gun Shot," sending a small jet of water from her mouth into it. Immediately, the fire was reduced to smoldering, wet ash. The cold hit her instantly, no longer being kept away by the hot flames. She wrapped her parka around her tighter, and jostled the sleeping tonakai awake.

"Zuoji, wake up. We are going to the Hidden Leaf," she said to him. He let out a grumbling whinny, getting to his feet. She hoisted her saddle onto his back, and clasped the strap tightly around his belly. She jumped on his back with easy, grabbing the reins that were attached to his bridle, and taking care not to touch his razor sharp antlers. The two of them turned to leave the cave.

"I don't remember much of my Hidden Leaf studies, I always hated school," she said to the equine, as if he could talk back to her. He just continued to trot down the small hill that led to the village. The forest was thick, and she had to duck underneath the low lying branches.

Suddenly, the Hokage Monument came into view as she came onto the outskirts of the village, and she was taken back to its immense size. The Kage's faces, she counted five, were intricately carved into the mountain with such precision that it truly awed her psyche. She even recognized the left most face to be Senju Hashirama; said to be the god of all Shinobi.

She was spotted immediately, as two Leaf ninjas and a white ninja hound surrounded her. Luke was startled as a boy with red markings on his face took hold of Zuoji's reigns. Without a word said, she was immediately ripped off of her mount and set on the ground.

"Who are you? Why are you prowling outside of the Hidden leaf?" a girl with pink hair demanded. Luke scowled at her, tearing away from the boys mask. The dog barked beside him. She grabbed the Zuoji's reigns.

"I need supplies," she muttered. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't Ino say there was another traveler who came here earlier with that same excuse?" The boy said to the pink haired girl. She nodded.

"Two in one day? That's no coincidence." She turned to Luke, pulling out a kunai. "Who are you? A spy from the Land of Sound? A Rogue ninja? Akatsuki supporter?" she pointed the kunai to Luke's body, ready to arrest her.

"No! I'm from the Land of Snow. I'm just traveling, and I need more supplies. I ran out of food last night and I just need to buy some more, and then I'll be out of your hair."

The pink girl lowered her Kunai. The boy made a small noise in his throat, sounding almost like a wine. Luke guessed he was from the Inozuka clan.

"What's your name?" he asked, much gentler than the pink haired girl. All the same, she glared at him.

"Luke, Xue Luke." She pulled at the tonakai's reigns, jumping back in the saddle. "Am I granted safe passage through Konoha?" The girl smirked at her.

"Sure, go get your supplies. But we will be watching, so don't try any funny business."

The boy looked at Luke again. "Do you need help getting your way around? I could help you. I'm Kiba, and this is my ninja hound, Akamaru." He gestured to the large white dog. Luke considered his offer; she would need a guide for the large village and its labyrinthian streets. She shrugged.

"Fine, but don't get in my way." She looked at the dog as Kiba climbed on his back. She smiled at the furry guy. "It's nice to meet you."


	3. Chapter 3

3

"Don't worry about Sakura; she can be a little extreme sometimes," Kiba said to Luke as they walked through the village, Akamaru at Kiba's side and Zuoji being lead by his reigns. The tonakai's ears swiveled back and forth at the noise of the bustling village. Luke scowled, both at the urban lifestyle, but also Kiba's remark about the pink haired girl.

"'Extreme' is an understatement," she said in monotone. The Inozuka boy looked at her closely. She didn't look back.

"Have you been to Konoha before? I don't recognize your scent."

"No, never been here before. I just know a little about it from school."

"School? What sorts of schools do they have in the Land of Snow?" Kiba scratched his face with the side of his hand. It amused Luke: how animal-like the Inozuka clan were. Except for their physical forms, it was as if both ninja and ninja hound were a an interchangeable being. Although, she remembered, clan members had a jutsu that could actually make the ninja hound look identical to its ninja owner, and vice versa.

"Usual stuff. History, geography, literature, and arithmetic," She felt her stomach moan. She was true to her word when she had told Sakura that she hadn't eaten since last night. She looked over to a food stand across the street, leading Zuoji to it.

"Hi, can I get some of that dried meet and noodles? 1 Kilo of each," she said to a fat market lady who sat across from the stand. She nodded, making a 'mmm hum' noise. She started packing the food in paper bags; Luke put down a few ryos on the table. When the lady handed her the food, she muttered a 'thank you' and turned to the next stand a few meters away.

"Are you a shinobi?" Kiba asked. Luke nodded.

"One that isn't to be hustled with," she affirmed, quickly asking the short man at the next stand for a bushel of apples and a chocolate banana. The man gave her the items, and she paid him. Kiba said to the man, "Two bananas, actually. I'll pay for hers." he grabbed one ryo from the stand and tossed it back to Luke, putting two of his own down. The man handed Kiba a chocolate covered banana.

"I like chocolate bananas too, they are my favorite snack," the dog boy said as they continued to walk to the hay stand that was a few streets down. Luke took the banana from its wrapper and put it in front of Zuoji's mouth. He immediately wrapped his horsy lips around it and started chewing, leaving gobs of banana and chocolate on the ground underneath. Kiba looked at her with a face of astonishment. She laughed and tossed him a ryo.

"They are Zuoji's favorite."

Kiba looked at the reindeer-like horse and smiled, putting the ryo back in Luke's hand.

"Zuoji, huh? Is that your name?" he asked the tonakai. He whinnied, and Kiba unsuccessfully attempted to whinny back. Luke grinned.

"Hai, he's my companion animal. He goes wherever I go," she said. Akamaru barked.

"I know how that is. Akamaru, here, is my companion animal. He's my best friend; the only one who really understands me. Sometimes I think he might understand me more that I, myself, do."

They made it to the hay stand, which was a much larger table and included many different types of animal feed for a variety of animals. She asked for 4 kilos of hay, hoping that would be enough to satisfy the hungry tonakai. Then, she felt a familiar feeling in her stomach.

"Hey, Kiba," she said. He looked over at her. "Is there a bathroom around here?" He nodded.

"The public restroom is over there. You go and I'll stay with the animals," he said, pointing across the street. She thanked him and walked in the direction he was gesturing to.

So far, she thought, Leaf villagers were the friendliest people she had met. Except for Sakura, of course. Even the people running the stands and shops smiled at her when she looked at them. She wondered if she should stay a few nights to rest. A warm bed sure would be so much better than a cave floor, even if its in a dingy hotel room.

After she finished her bathroom business, she walked back outside. Across the street, just a few meters away, she saw Kiba talking to another boy about their age. He had black, spiky hair and an attractive smile. He wore his shirt open at the chest, a pare of black pants and sandals, and a sword at his hip. It looked like he was inquiring about Zuoji.

Suddenly, she felt a metal blade of a kunai at her neck, and the tall presence of a man behind her.

"Give me all the money you've got, and I wont kill you," came the gruff voice of the unknown person. Before she knew it, the man had dragged her behind the bathrooms and out of sight. She breathed; this would be bothersome.

"Stop what your doing, and maybe I'll let you live," she said to him, viscously. The man chuckled.

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm the one in possession of a Kunai, sister." He tapped the metal blade on her throat, still cackling.

"I'm not your sister, creep!" Luke screamed turning around with a speed that could rival nun chucks being thrown. Quickly, she weave five handsigns: tiger, ox, dog, rabbit, and snake. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" she screamed. Wind erupted from her body, blowing everything away from her with the force of a hurricane. The man was blown back to the brick wall of the building he was standing in front of, knocking the breath out of him.

He immediately got up again, bashing his hands together in a crude version of the handsigns: snake, tiger, monkey, boar, horse, and tiger. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he yelled, blowing streamline fireballs from his mouth. Luke dodged the attack easily, and it knocked into the girls' bathroom behind her. It blew the roof off of it, and setting the building aflame.

"What's going on over there!" She heard the voices of nearby Leaf ninjas say. Before she could blink, four vest-clad shinobi were in the alley, sending ninjutsu attacks to both Luke and her attacker. One of them wove the snake hand sign faster than Luke could even register in her mind, before saying "Earth style: Earth Hold!"

Large earth pillars rose out of the ground around Luke's attacker, attempting to trap him inside. Luke turned to see a second shinobi about to weave a hand sign: monkey. "Ninja Art: Binding Death!" he cried, sending chakra chains to immobilize her. She jumped, but the chains managed to wrap around her ankle and bring her back to earth roughly. Before they could wrap any tighter around her, she placed the half-tiger hand sign on the ground and said,

"Ice Style: Ice Prison." Small ice crystals rose out of the ground just as the earth pillars had not a moment before, breaking the chains which had previously held her foot in contempt. The chakra metal broke into what seemed a hundred different pieces.

The other two shinobi turned to Luke and slammed their hands in the dirt beneath them and screamed "Shadow Rope Jutsu!" sending two simultaneous black ropes towards her, successfully wrapping around her frame.

"Gotcha," one of the ninja said to her, "A few weeks in prison should teach you to pick fights in the streets. I think you and your friend will be fine cell mates-" but he was cut off when she screamed, "Ninja Art: Water substitution!" as her entire body was reduced to nothing but a puddle of water, the ropes now useless. She regenerated a meter away, looking at the four shinobi. Behind them, Zuoji tore from Kiba's oblivious grasp and began galloping at full speed across the street, catching the ninjas completely off guard and shoving one out of the way with his gigantic antlers.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Raijin and Choji were just a few streets away when they heard the explosion. Currently buying a bag of dried persimmons, Raijin looked at the large cloud of dust that was currently forming over the near buildings. It smelled of dust and building material, a scent of which he recalled painfully. Choji put a hand on his shoulder, as if he was making sure Raijin was all right.

"What the hell was that?" the Akimichi exclaimed, getting into a fighting stance. Raijin stared at the debris cloud blankly.

"I've a faint idea," he muttered. "Come on, let's go!" He leapt from his spot to the nearest building's rooftop. Choji followed. Before long, they were enveloped with dust.

"I wish Hinata was here, I can't see anything through all of this dirt," Choji said to Raijin as they jumped into the adjacent street. Around them, they could hear the sound of shinobi yelling.

"Does this happen often?" Raijin yelled to Choji over all the noise. Faintly, he heard a very strange noise. Was that a whinny?

"Not in nearly five years. The last time something like this happened, Pain was attacking the village," he said back to him, wheezing between words. Raijin instructed him to try not to breathe the dust.

Suddenly, it was as if the cloud of debris was completely blown away by an extremely powerful gust of wind. Raijin focused on the epicenter of the blast of air, seeing the chaos of all the leaf shinobi in one small area. Quickly, he weaved a single hand sign: monkey. He held a fist close to his face as electricity began to discharge from it. Once again, he leapt into the air and came down hard onto the cobblestone street with his fist.

"Lightning Style: Thunder Fist Jutsu!" Lightning resounded from his fist like a boulder being thrown into the water, uprooting the street paving and knocking many of the ninjas off their feet. He could sense Choji standing beside him as the immediately got back on their feet.

Half a second later, they were surrounded by tall shinobi wearing hooded cloaks and white masks; clearly ANBU black ops agents. Raijin ducked to his left as the one closest to him threw a punch at his face, grabbing the man's arm and pushing him to the side.

"Wait! Raijin's not—" Choji started, but was cut off as he was apprehended by ANBU agents. The traveler wondered why he didn't fight back; a shinobi near him threw an earth style attack at him, of which he dodged.

Surprisingly, he heard the unmistakable scream of what sounded like a crazed horse behind him. Raijin turned to see what looked like a tonakai charging straight for him, a girl running alongside it. He tripped out of the way just in time; the antlered horse trampling the ground in which he had just previously stood. Through the corner of his eye, he noticed the girl was wearing attire fitting for the Land of Snow. She must have been the troublemaker, he concluded.

She was just some five meters away when he clasped his hands together and cried "Lightning Style: False Darkness!" He opened his mouth, shooting out a spear shaped bolt of electricity, grazing her side as she was about to climb atop the horse. She stopped, turning around he placed his feet apart; her eyes were simply murderous. He unrolled the giant scroll that was strapped to her back, grabbing the conductor staff that was embedded in it. He saw her beginning to weave a hand sign, and so did he: half-tiger. Then, they yelled simultaneously:

"Ice Style: Ice God Staff!" was what she screamed. "Lightning Style: Thunder God Staff!" was what he screamed. As a long ice staff materialized in her hand, he charged his conductor staff with lightning chakra, they came together and clashed the weapons together, a ringing resounding painfully in the air around them.

They were then surrounded by ten shadow clones of a single white haired ninja, all of them uttering, "Put your weapons down. Fight's over."

Raijin did so immediately, releasing his thunder god staff, it disappeared immediately. The girl lowered hers, but did not stop the jutsu. Raijin couldn't stop himself; he smirked at her. In response, she glared at him furiously.

One of the shadow clones took him by the arm, leading him away from the girl. He sat on the curb of the street next to Choji. He saw the girl release her ice staff, but she refused to be lead away. Instead, she stayed right next to the now much calmer tonakai. Raijin looked up to see two ninja standing before him, the white haired shadow clone user and a second, younger shinobi with spiky black hair and a sword at his hip. Something in Raijin's distant memory clicked, and he instantly recognized the two of them.

"Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke," he said to the both of them. Kakashi looked a little taken back, but Sasuke was unimpressed, his black hair matching his black eyes marvelously.

"Who are you, and why were you attacking our village?" the infamous Uchiha said. He looked down at Raijin with his face completely expressionless. Raijin wondered whether or not he should consider himself lucky to be in the presence of the two famous lightning users.

"I wasn't attacking the village. Choji and I were just shopping when we heard an explosion, we stepped in to help."

Kakashi looked at Choji. The Akimichi boy nodded.

"What about her?" Sasuke gestured to the girl behind Raijin, who was then standing with another boy who looked like he was from the Inuzuka clan. Raijin nodded.

"I've no idea who she is. She looks like she's from the Land of Snow and not the leaf. I figured she was the one attacking the village." He said. The girl must have heard him.

"Hey! I didn't attack your fucking village! I was attacked by that sweaty ninja over there!" she pointed to the shinobi currently in shambles inside an earth prison. Raijin stood up, raising an eyebrow. Kakashi's uncovered eye widened.

"You look like someone who came to the village nearly 13 years ago," He said. Sasuke looked at him.

"Who?" he said. Kakashi shrugged.

"Over a decade ago, a man came to the village. He was an excellent lightning style user, and came from an unknown distant village. He stayed for a while; I taught him the Chidori," the copycat ninja said. He then looked at Raijin.

"Who are you?"

Raijin returned Kakashi's gaze. "My name is Inozuma Raijin. That man you met was my father."


	5. Chapter 5

5

Not a half hour later did Raijin find himself in the fifth hokage's office, sitting across from the last remaining legendary sannin, herself. Again, he wondered whether or not he should consider himself lucky to be in the presence of the Lady Tsunade. She folded her hands, looking at him. The Land of Snow girl sat beside him a bandage wrapped around her waist, her hands folded across her chest. She had quite the attitude, he thought.

"Inozuma Raijin and Xue Luke, what brings you to the Leaf Village?" the slug princess asked. Raijin sat back in his chair.

"I'd been traveling for a while, and I wanted a place to stay the night. The Leaf was the nearest town for miles," he told her. She nodded, looking to the girl, Luke.

"My tonakai and I were hungry." She said, not looking at her. Tsunade's eye twitched slightly. Raijin then spoke, hoping to make himself seem less suspicious.

"My village was attacked by Akatsuki supporters two years ago; it was destroyed, and I'm the sole survivor. I've since been a bit of a nomad: traveling from village to village, looking for anyone in association of the group responsible for the deaths of my friends and family. When I saw the explosion in the market, I thought it was them. I couldn't just stand there."

Tsunade nodded again, "Yes, the infamous 'second generation' of Akatsuki has been worrying us. Their numbers are growing by the thousands, and now we have to question every thug or petty criminal that winds up at our doorstep. We knew they were planning an underbelly queue on the shinobi alliance, but I hadn't heard of an entire village being sacked by their hand." She looked at Kakashi, who was standing at the doorway next to Sasuke, his arms folded as always. "You said you knew this boy?" she asked him.

"I knew his father. Inozuma Raizo. He came to the village a few years before Sasuke left. He had exquisite lightning prowess, and I taught him the Chidori. He said he was from a village in the highest mountain range in the world; it was called the Village Hidden in the Thunder." He said. Tsunade's face had a look of puzzlement.

"The Hidden Thunder Village? I've heard stories, but… I always thought that it was purely legendary. I never knew it existed."

"Legendary yes, but just because it was legendary does not mean it never existed." Raijin corrected her. "We didn't participate at all in the War, for our life was of much isolation. Those who left the village, such as my father, would usually go alone." He tapped the engraving on his headband, and turned to look at Kakashi. "It was paradise. No one wanted to leave. But, my father was an intellectual. He wanted to experience the world firsthand, and not through reading books. Most of all, though, our village wanted to learn the most famous of all lightning techniques, such as the Chidori and the Kirin. Our village was most famous for our lightning techniques; we invented most of them." Kakashi's eyes widened.

"What about you?" Tsunade said to Luke. "Where are you from?"

"None of your business, bitch." she said, spitting her words venomously. Tsunade chuckled.

"What right have you to call the Hokage such things?" she said, looking Luke in the face.

"Hey, I don't even want to be in this fucking village anymore. I get treated like a terrorist at the front gate, someone tries to rob me on the way out of the lavatory, and all of a sudden I have twenty ninja attacking me as if I'm the enemy! So yeah, you and your entire village can go fuck themselves," she exclaimed, adding emphasis on the 'go fuck themselves'. Tsunade folded her arms. At present, Raijin wondered why the Leaf Shadow wasn't going into fits of rage, as she is known to do.

Suddenly, they heard commotion from outside of the Hokage's office. Raijin stood from his chair when he heard the guard shinobi in the hallway yell "Hey, you can't go in there!" The door burst open, revealing a kid riding a large white dog. He recognized the boy as the kid he saw standing next to Luke when they were apprehended.

"Lady Tsunade, don't arrest Luke! It's all a misunderstanding!" he said, panting as he did so. Tsunade looked around incredulously.

"And I had just began to think that the craziness of today had ended!" she muttered, banging her fist on the table. The boy flinched. "Get out of here, Kiba!"

"But I-"

"Get out!"

It was then that Sasuke spoke up. "If I may, Tsunade." He said monotonously. She sighed, waving her hand at him.

"Whatever, go ahead."

"I was there the whole time. What Xue Luke says is the truth; I saw it all." he glanced at the girl. She looked at him, obviously surprised that someone had come to her defense. "I'd say she has a right to be angry."

Raijin thought he heard Kiba grumble, but he decided it had come from his dog. Tsunade looked at her desk.

"I'll let Inozuma Raijin stay in the village as long as he likes, and Luke can if she so desires-"

"Yeah, right." Luke interrupted. Tsunade ignored her, and continued talking

"I apologize for the ordeal the two of you have suffered here in Konoha, and I grant the two of you each an inn room stay for again, as long as you like." She looked at Raijin, "I look forward to learning more about your home village, Raijin."

Luke walked from the Hokage's headquarters with a look of irritation etched across her ivory face. The sun was beginning to set, and she fully intended to get out of the accursed village before nightfall. She didn't even care if she had to leave her recently bought supplies there. Before her, she saw a pair of men struggling to hold the reins of an equally irritated Zuoji, who bellowed and screamed in discontent. She rushed over, yanking the reigns out of their hands.

"THANK you very much, but Zuoji and I shall be going now." She glared at the two until they turned to leave. Luke then put a soothing hand on the antlered horse's face, whispering calming words into his ear. Steadily, the tonakai eased.

"You aren't planning on leaving the village tonight, are you?" she heard the voice of the lightning boy, Raijin, say behind her. She turned, narrowing her eyes. He swung his giant scroll across his back, looking at her with unreadable eyes. Luke was slightly unnerved by his appearance; she wondered if he meant to look so unfriendly. Nevertheless, she sucked in a breath to reply.

"There's nothing I'd like more at the moment than to go far away from this place." She tightened the strap on Zuoji's saddle.

"It's not safe out there at night, not with Akatsuki supporters lurking around ever bush or tree." He said. She scoffed.

"I can hold my own against petty thieves and criminals."

"They aren't just petty thieves and criminals, Xue Luke." He said. She caught the message he was implying. She stopped.

"Why do you even care?"

He placed his hand on the strap that held the giant scroll in place, looking at his feet. His black hair flowed against the evening breeze. "My village- my entire family- was taken out by those bastards. I'd hate to see someone as powerful as you be taken out by them as well."

Before Luke had time to respond, Kiba strode out of the Hokage's building, Akamaru walking at his side. He stopped adjacent to Luke, putting a hand on Zuoji's brown flank.

"Hey, Luke! Would you like to have dinner at my apartment tonight?" he asked, a wide smile etched across his marked face. Raijin raised an eyebrow.

Luke managed to smile as well, no longer as angry as she was moments before. The tonakai whinnied, tossing his head up and down. She turned to face Kiba.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she said. Blood rushed to Kiba's face; he raised an arm to scratch the back of his neck, looking down.

"Good, I'm sure I could cook something like what they have in the Land of Snow," he said bashfully.

"I'll see you guys later," Raijin said, walking off in the opposite direction. Kiba's smile broadened.


	6. Chapter 6

6

Kiba had made a very attractive meal for the two of them that evening; one of a kind that Luke hadn't had in what seemed like ages. Luke had long since taken off her parka, which was hanging at the door, outside of which Zuoji was tied to a post with a bale of hay in front of him. She was wearing her usual black slacks and a low cut white T-shirt. Kiba had even convinced her to relax and let down her long white hair from its puffs at the top of her head. After they had begun to eat, Kiba asked about her.

"Tell me about yourself, Luke," He said, sticking a steamed bamboo shoot into his mouth with long silver chop sticks. She moved a strand of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She shrugged.

"Like what?" she asked. What was she supposed to say?

"I don't know; what do you like to do for fun?"

What did she like to do for fun? She had been on the run for the past two years, hiding in caves and foraging for food like a fugitive or a savage. She hadn't had much fun for months.

"Um…" she murmured, twiddling her thumbs. Kiba looked at her expectantly. She thought back to her life in the Land of Snow, which seemed like an eternity ago. She remembered waking up as a child in the great mansion that she called home, grabbing her parka and running outside to make snow men and snow angels. She would have snowball fights and race tonakai around the grounds with her siblings and the stable boys. She smiled.

"I liked playing in the snow with my brothers and sisters." She replied to him finally, chewing on a ball of sticky rice. Kiba nodded.

"Oh, so you do have siblings then?"

"Yeah, three sisters and two brothers. I'm the youngest."

"I've just a sister, Hana. She's nice, but we fight sometimes. I'm glad I moved out and got my own apartment, you know?"

She didn't answer. Running away was the closest thing she could ever get to moving out. Kiba looked at her, smiling sweetly. Akamaru whined in the corner of the room.

"What time is it?" She asked, noticing that the sun had gone down past the horizon and the night sky had begun to settle in its dark form.

"Almost 8:30. Do you wanna crash here tonight? I'm sure it'd be better than some dingy Leaf hotel room." He picked up her empty plate and carried it to the kitchen. Luke felt an odd nervous feeling in her stomach, a familiar feeling. She had just met this boy, and he had already made her dinner and was now asking her to stay the night? Come to think of it, she didn't even know him, and she certainly couldn't trust him.

"Crash here?" she repeated, looking around warily. She noticed the door to his bedroom was open, his bed unmade and unkept. Luke narrowed her eyes. Of course, she thought. No one would show such kindness to her without alternate intentions.

Kiba turned on the water in the sink and began cleaning the dishes. "Of course. I could make up a bed on the couch for you to sleep on. It's very comfortable, I assure you. I'll stay in my room, I promise." She heard his voice falter nervously.

She eased; maybe he had no intentions at all. Maybe it was possible for someone to show kindness just because they wanted to. She smiled; she'd never met someone like him before. From her travels, most of the people she'd met had treated her very badly, not letting her into their stores or being extra unkind when she inquired about something she was thinking about buying. She had accepted that goodness was not something that many people had, and that she was just a mere traveler who didn't deserve it anyway. She suddenly felt guilty; what had she done to earn the kindness that the Inuzuka boy had given her?

"Thank you, Kiba. But I think I'd rather go to that hotel room Tsunade gave to me for free. I snore a lot, I don't want to keep you awake." She made up some stupid excuse as she said it. He nodded, clearly disappointed.

"Do you want me to walk you there?" he asked, walking back into the room. She stood up, shaking her head.

"I can take care of myself, but thank you Kiba. I can't thank you enough for your hospitality." She grabbed her parka by the door, swinging it over her shoulder.

"Hey, what are friends for?" He said, opening the door for her. Zuoji was waiting. Luke untied him from the post and waved at Kiba as he closed the door behind her, before turning to walk down the deserted street.

Friends: that was what Kiba had called the two of them. Besides Zuoji, she didn't know if she had had any friends since she ran away. She'd been literally on her own for two years.

Could she make a life in the Leaf village? Settle down; maybe even be an official Konoha Ninja. An apartment sounded ideal. She wouldn't have to run away anymore, wouldn't have to look behind her shoulder every step she took. Luke smiled, she was sure Kiba wouldn't mind it if she crashed at his place until she got settled and into a flat of her own. She could do mission work for the Hokage.

Luke's smile dimmed; she knew in her heart she couldn't live in the Hidden Leaf permanently. Even if Tsunade would let her join the village, she knew they would search her mind first. As soon as they found out who she was, they would most likely send her back to the Land of Snow in chains if they had to. If for some ungodly reason they decided to let her stay and protect her, they would risk war with the Snow Queen herself.

Luke heard a scuffle of feet behind her; she felt a blow strike the back of her head. Before she could react, the cobblestone street made contact with her face and the world went black

The moon was low in the sky when Inozuma Raijin sat on the top of the village gate, looking out over the horizon of Konoha. Is face was unreadable: relaxed yet also tense. His thoughts swarmed his mind; he wished there was a thunderstorm overhead. He needed the amusement of a lightning storm.

Suddenly, he heard the soul-splitting cry of a horse. Standing, Raijin scanned the streets below. He recognized the cry, of course. It was undoubtedly the tonakai that Xue Luke owned; he wondered what it was doing loose in the streets. A thought struck him, was the village being attacked? Horses usually only get spooked when there was something prowling in the shadows, he thought.

From the corner of his skilled shinobi eyes, Raijin saw movement in the outskirts of Konoha. He braced himself, noticing the forms of several ninja fleeing the village as fast as lightning. Even in the darkness, he saw the blood red clouds that were scattered across their black cloaks. He knew he had to act fast.

There were too many for him to fight alone. He needed backup. Weaving the dragon hand sign, he shot his hand into the air and cried, "LIGHTNING STYLE: SIGNAL FLARE!" A bolt of lightning a thousand stories high burst from his open palm and exploded among the clouds, making a sound comparable to a mining explosion.

The sleepy village sprung to life immediately; every house's lights flickered on and people clad in pajamas scampered from their homes, the memory of Pain's attack fresh in their mind. Raijin leapt from the gate, running as fast as he could to the hokage's headquarters. Tsunade had already burst from the building's entrance, eyes wild. He stopped in front of her.

"Did you send out that flare?" she asked while two ANBU guards stood behind her. He nodded.

"I saw Akatsuki supporters fleeing the village," was all he could manage before Hatake Kakashi appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, a burly ninja in a green suit standing next to him. The copycat ninja looked at Tsunade.

"What's going on?" he said quickly.

"I heard the cry of the tonakai that Xue Luke owns, and then saw Akatsuki Supporters leaving the village not a moment later." Raijin said. The ANBU guards looked at each other, their faces hidden by their masks.

"Xue Luke, the Snow girl. Where is she? Has anyone seen her?" Kakashi asked. Raijin looked at the silver haired shinobi. Had Luke been captured?

"She left to have dinner with Kiba. That was the last time I saw her." Raijin told him. Tsunade looked to the ANBU guards.

"Go get him, and send out a squad to secure the perimeter. Make sure every citizen is accounted for. Check the village inside and out," She glanced at Raijin, "Do not underestimate these guys."

Before the black ops shinobi could even dispatch, the sound of a howling dog barreled towards them, the Inuzuka boy himself riding atop it. Tsunade didn't look surprised.

"I heard the explosion. Is the village being attacked?" He said. Akamaru's tongue rolled out of his mouth.

"We don't think so, but we believe Luke may have been captured." Raijin said. Darkness and worry spread across the boy's face. Akamaru barked.

"Akamaru's right, where's Zuoji?" he said.

The burly ninja next to Kakashi scrunched his forehead together. "Who's Zuoji?" he said in a deep, booming voice.

"Her horse, Guy," Kakashi explained. He nodded.

"I heard him scream just before seeing the Akatsuki supporters flee the village," Raijin repeated. Tsunade then spoke, giving her orders.

"Kakashi and Might Guy, take to the forest and hunt down those Akatsuki supporters. We need to know why they were in the village, and what they want with Xue Luke. Raijin, I ask you to go with them. You've experience with fighting these rebels, and I hope that shall lead you to them. Kiba and Akamaru should go as well, for they know the girl personally and can also track scents." The four ninja nodded and Akamaru barked. Raijin held his fist to the air, electricity crackling from his glove.

"There's no way I'm missing this!" he grinned. Finally, after two years he could kick some Akatsuki ass.


	7. Chapter 7

7

The first thing Luke noticed when she came to, before she even opened her eyes, was the smell of campfire smoke and cheap alcohol. Once regained consciousness, she knew better than to stir and make noise, lest her awakened state be noticed by her captors. Instead, she remained silent and stationary, listening intently to the sounds around her.

"She's pretty, Daisuke. You're sure we can't get to know her better before we send her back to the tundra?" a male voice said to the far left of her. He sounded incredibly intoxicated.

"You're drunk, Goro. You know as well as I do; we have to bring her back in one piece or we won't get our reward. Besides, Lady Mitzuki would skin us alive if she found out about it," replied another man, of whom Luke guessed was Daisuke. He must have been the leader of the group.

"Lady Mitzuki," said a third man. He rolled the name across his mouth like a chocolate. "She's nice, isn't she? Any man out there would be lucky to have her on top of him any day."

"You shouldn't talk about the mother of our cause like that. It's uncouth," Daisuke scolded the man.

"Yeah, Kohei!" leered Goro, "You're being uncouth!" he busted into a fit of laughter at the word, probably spilling his drink into the fire. The smoke tickled Luke's nose, and she fought to keep herself from sneezing.

"You guys are pigs," she a fourth voice; this time female.

"Oh, like you're so innocent," said Kohei. "'Oh, I'm Aiyuya. I'm the perfect pure little girl from regiment 4!'" he mocked her voice in a high, bitchy tone. "You wrap your legs around a different guy each night for every day of the week."

"HEY!" screamed Aiyuya, "You don't know what you're talking about, you stupid bastard—"

Suddenly, Luke sprang from her slumber position, only to find herself restrained by iron-strong rope wrapped carefully around her arms, waist, and legs. Her captors jumped back immediately, moving into fighting stances in less than a second. As soon as they realized Luke was indeed immobilized, they relaxed.

Goro was a stout man of maybe his late twenties, with cropped hair and a shaggy, short beard. He had one tooth stuck out from his top lip, and a scar across his left eyebrow. He wore a Hidden Sand forehead protector; the symbol had a line slashed through it.

Daisuke was taller, with lighter skin and sunken eyes. His bald head was covered with a bandana forehead protector: a slashed Hidden Leaf symbol on the front. Across his back was a katana.

Kohei was toothpick-skinny. He had long, fiery red hair and sharpened teeth. His fingernails were also filed to a point, and he kept a dagger at his hip. He wore an armband with a slashed Hidden Mist symbol on it.

Aiyuya was tall and skinny, her hair was bright blonde and she had crystal earrings dangling from each lobe. Around her neck was a headband with a slashed Hidden Rain symbol on it.

Luke powered up her chakra, ready to render each of her kidnappers severely incompetent. However, as soon as she was about release a Water Style jutsu, she felt all the chakra drain from her body so quickly her knees gave out from under her and she fell to the ground. To her disdain, the four shinobi started laughing.

"I wouldn't try ninjutsu on that rope; it'll probably kill you before you could even come close to severing it." Daisuke said, sitting back down at the fire. His subordinates did the same.

"So, you are the famous Xue Luke?" Aiyuya said menacingly. Luke looked at her with a look that could kill, but she said nothing.

"She's as pale as a ghost," Kohei observed.

"And she's even prettier when she's awake…" Goro said, looking her up and down. Luke's cheeks burned; she wanted so badly to disarticulate all four shinobi. She imagined their blood spurting from their wounds like a fountain, and the blissful sound of their screams of terror ringing through her ears. She would impale them with chunks of ice, cut their skin with little slices of wind, and fill their lungs with water. They would die slowly and painfully.

"The snow queen is going to be so happy to have you back," Kohei said, moving to kneel on the ground in front of her. He grabbed her chin and thrust her face forward to his; his breath smelled of rotted flesh. She tried to jerk her face from his hand, but he held it firmly in place.

"Leave her be, Kohei." Daisuke said. Kohei ignored him, staring into Luke's eyes murderously. They pierced her soul, sending hot fear up her spine. For a split second, she instinctually swelled all of her remaining chakra into her foot and thought, Water Style: Surface Slicer.

Her foot kicked out and she immediately felt the chakra being sucked away from her body, but to her surprise, a thin sheet of water jut from it and slid across the ground right where Kohei was standing. Taken back by the display of jutsu, the redheaded Akatsuki Supporter jumped out of the way of the razor sharp sheet of water, probably avoiding having his toes sliced clean off.

Her captors looked at her with shock and fury; how could this girl have gotten a jutsu passed the chakra-draining ropes? Kohei let out a noise that sounded like a snarl, taking out his kunai and smashing the already exhausted Luke in the face with the handle. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fell to the ground once more, passing out.

Raijin, Kakashi, Guy, Kiba, and Akamaru leaped from tree to tree in the immense forests outside of the Leaf, moving at speeds no ordinary person could match. Kiba, atop Akamaru, and Raijin took the lead, while Kakashi and guy were on the left and right sides of them. Raijin kept his eyes closed, focusing with the tiger hand sign held firmly in his hands.

"Dude, what are you doing? You're gonna run face first into one of these trees if don't cut that out." Kiba said to him. Akamaru barked in agreement. Raijin opened his left eye slightly, looking at the dog-boy in front of him. He closed it again and said,

"I'm focusing my chakra for the battle that may come. I'll need a lot of it for the techniques I use."

"How is it that you can avoid running into things, then?" Kakashi asked, landing on a tree branch and leaping off of it not a second later.

"I follow the electrical impulses that I sense in the air and the objects around me, giving me a mental picture of my surroundings." He explained.

"I like it; a useful ninja preparing for battle ahead of time. This kid is my kind of guy." Guy exclaimed, flashing a crooked smile. Raijin raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, perhaps you could inquire on becoming a permanent resident of the Leaf. I'm sure Tsunade wouldn't mind. A skilled ninja would be a welcome citizen of the village," said Kakashi. Raijin didn't say anything.

A resident of the Leaf? Have a home after his village was destroyed? Raijin shook the notion from his brain. How could he become a citizen of anything but his home? How could he wear another village's symbol on his headband? He couldn't.

"The Akatsuki supporters' camp is up ahead, I smell the campfire smoke." Kiba said to the rest of the rescue party. They all nodded, spreading out to surround the campsite. Raijin landed on a large tree above it, and the rest of his group stationed around it. He peered through the darkness to take in how many enemies there were.

There were four shinobi: three men and one woman. They were all sitting around the fire, talking. Raijin spotted Luke between two of the men, tied up on the ground and unconscious. He felt cool rage build in his stomach. He opened his scroll and took out his staff and sword, wrapping the large object back up and strapping it across his shoulders and spine. In a tree ten feet from him, Kakashi signaled to ambush.

Guy threw a barrage of Kunai at a nearby tree, startling a flock of sleeping crows that took flight noisily. Luke's captors got to their feet, distracted by the loud caw of the avian animals. It was then that Kiba shouted, "FANG OVER FANG!" spinning with Akamaru into an enormous tornado-like drill, landing next to the redheaded Akatsuki Supporter and knocking over a tree in the process.

Before the Akatsuki could react, the remaining rescuers jumped from their perches in the trees and began their attack. Using taijutsu, Guy knocked down a large, stout enemy who appeared to be drunk. The enemy scrambled to get in fighting formation, having been caught off guard in the crossfire. As Kiba and Akamaru materialized adjacent from Kakashi, the leader called out to his subordinates.

"Get in formation! We are under attack!" He screamed, dodging a kick from Kakashi.

"No shit!" cried the red haired ninja.

Raijin looked at each of the Akatsuki, and in them, he saw the murderers of his village; his entire family. He saw the ruthless, merciless killers of his kin; the monsters that changed him forever. He felt the gnarled, burning hand of rage grip his heart and he slammed his staff down onto the ground below him. Hot, blue lightning surged from the ground and shot at the Akatsuki. They in turn scrambled like frightened chickens, their formation breaking.

The red haired ninja was the first to regain his footing, lunging at Raijin with a kunai coated in water chakra. "Water Style: Water Slash!" he cried. Raijin blocked the hit with his staff, knocking the kunai from his hand. He then turned and struck a blow across the Akatsuki's side, knocking him back. He skidded to a stop using his hands, then shooting back at Raijin and catching the fallen kunai.

The Akatsuki shinobi turned his kunai, ready to plunge through Raijin's ribs. However, Raijin could feel the electric currents in his body, and therefore could tell where the Akatsuki was aiming for based on his movements, even if he was behind his range of sight. Raijin moved out of the kunai's path at the last moment, watching as the blade struck only air. With a strike of his foot, he kicked the knife from the redhead's clenched fist, hearing the bones in his fingers crack as he did so. Then, Raijin swung his staff and collided it with the side of the Akatsuki's head.

At that moment, the Akatsuki's body went up in white smoke, completely disappearing.

"A shadow clone?!" Raijin said under his breath, completely taken off guard.

"That's right," came the voice of the red haired villain in the tree above him. He looked up, seeing the Akatsuki squatting on a branch. _He must've snuck away during the ambush unseen, putting the clone in his place._ Raijin thought quickly to himself. The Akatsuki cocked his head, smiling.

"So many shinobi for just a stranger girl from the Land of Snow? You Leaf ninja do surprise me." He said, looking down on the scene before him.

Raijin didn't have to turn to look. He could sense his comrades taking on the enemy ninja in one on one battles: Kakashi with the bandana wearing shinobi, Guy with the large shinobi, and Kiba with the woman shinobi. He knew their opponents were evenly matched, but he wasn't sure how the outcome would come. He could tell his friends were becoming exhausted, and as were the enemy.

"Who are you?" Raijin asked the redhead. He grinned again, his sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

"You can call me Hozuki Kohei. But I know you did not mean to ask who _I _am. You want to know what I stand for. What we _all _stand for. Well, I'll answer you. We are the one percent. The street trash. The pests. Children of misfortune. And you shall fear us, Inozuma Raijin, if you do not already. You shall _all_ fear us!" The redhead clasped his hand together in the sheep hand sign, moving his lips together in an _O _shape. Raijin stepped back.

Kohei spat out a tsunami level wave of water from his mouth, which rained upon the clashing shinobi like the hand of god. It spread out in all directions, flooding the entire area. Raijin was swallowed in the wave, and he struggled to the surface, climbing onto it like a shelf as his chakra flowed through his feet. He looked to his left to see that his comrades were above the water as well.

"Fear us, Inozuma Raijin! Fear the next generation of the Akatsuki!" cried the red haired ninja as he leapt from tree perch above, landing on the surface of the water twenty feet from Raijin.

Raijin's shoulder's stiffened, and his facial muscles curled into a jagged grin. His hair stood up on end, crackling. Like a jackal about to pounce, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Fear? You know not the meaning of the word." He brought his hand together in the form of the snake, then spreading out his arms and swooping them forward like an electric crow. He cried out "Lightning Style: Thunderstorm Dance!" sending electric currents through the water towards Kohei in front of him.

The shinobi jumped back in a futile effort to dodge the bullet of electric shock, but he knew that there wasn't a soul that could truly outrun lightning. Raijin watched as his deadly jutsu traveled like a snake into Kohei's body, its subliquid form conducting the electricity beautifully. From the top of his crimson head, the lightning exited his body and bolted into the sky above, illuminating the night for a split second.

The water style user collapsed as the shock left him, floating on the water's surface. Raijin stood back, feeling the drain in his chakra and fighting fatigue. He felt pride swell in his heart as he saw the body of the shinobi lying before him; it had been since his village was destroyed that he had been given the opportunity to kill an Akatsuki supporter.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that the others had acquired the upper hand in their battles as well; Kakashi had defeated the leader of the enemy group and Kiba's opponent had fled. The two of them were helping Guy take down the last remaining ninja. Raijin turned to help them.

"I'm not dead yet, Inozuma Raijin." Kohei's voice came, ringing through his ears. He looked back, seeing the shinobi half crouched on the water's surface, his black and red cloak singed and a stream of blood running from the corner of his mouth.

"No one had withstood that jutsu before," Raijin said to him, his eyes wide. Kohei staggered to a standing position, moving his head up to smooth out his electrocuted red hair.

"You underestimate us," he whispered, just loud enough for Raijin to hear. Then, louder, he called to both Raijin and his comrades. "You underestimate all of us!" He looked at Raijin, addressing him once more, staring into him. "Even after we desecrated your village, even after we slaughtered your entire family, you still underestimate us. You underestimate our power, our will. Inozuma Raijin,_ you _know not the meaning of fear. Soon our might shall be so great, not even Uzumaki Naruto will be a match against us."

"How do you know my name?" Raijin asked, holding the stare. Kohei grinned.

"How could we forget the only survivor of our biggest, yet hardly known success?" the redhead replied, jumping off into the night, his last remaining comrade following.


	8. Chapter 8

8

When Luke opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was a mop of pink hair in her face. She shook her head, rolling over to see none other than Sakura hunched over her, healing her head wound with medical ninjutsu. As she was about to leap from the bed and shoot ice crystals at the Haruno girl, Sakura put her free palm across her forehead.

"Don't stir, you have a major concussion and your chakra is massively drained. If you move you could risk more damage," she said in a soothing voice. Luke stopped, and tried to focus on the room she was in. It was so white and blurry; she wasn't even sure where she was.

"It's so hard to see anything father away from you," Luke muttered, Sakura nodded.

"Your vision is temporarily damaged from the concussion. You'll be able to see things about two feet in front of you, but the rest will be too blurry. I'll fix that soon," the medical ninja said. Luke stretched out in the bed she was in.

"Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in the Leaf Village hospital. Four Akatsuki Supporters kidnapped you last night from the village; Kiba, Kakashi Sensei, Guy Sensei, and Raijin Inozuma rescued you."

Luke blanked, taking it all in. What did she last remember? Eating dinner in Kiba's apartment? She was kidnapped by Akatsuki Supporters? She tried to sit up in the bed, and Sakura all but pinned her down. Instead, Luke stared at the green dot on the girl's forehead.

"Don't move, Luke," She warned.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Luke asked her. The last time she had seen the pink haired girl was at Leaf's border, and she was accusing Luke of being an Akatsuki Supporter herself.

"Because I was wrong about you. You aren't some straggler looking for handouts, and you certainly aren't a threat to the village. You're like me, an incredibly strong woman who deserves respect. I haven't come across many of them in my lifetime. Tsunade could see that in you immediately, and that is why she didn't beat the shit out of you when you insulted her. I'm sorry it took me a bit long to realize it, but we women need to stick together."

Before she could respond, the white haired ninja she recognized as Kakashi Hatake came into her view. Luke wondered how long he had been standing there, as she could not see anything past Sakura's face. In his hand was a small yellow book, but she couldn't read the lettering on it. On its back was a red circle with a slash through it.

"What is that last thing you remember, Luke?" he asked her. Luke sighed, and Sakura removed her hand from the back of her neck, allowing her to finally sit up on the bed. When she did so, she felt small pains throughout her head, and she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Although the colors of the room were mingled, she could sense it was very spacious.

"Kiba invited me to his apartment for dinner, and he offered to let me crash at his place. I turned him down and was walking to the hotel… I think I woke up sometime after that. I couldn't move," She recanted her last memories before the hospital slowly, and Kakashi looked at her with his half-closed eyes.

"Your kidnappers tied you with ropes that sucked chakra every time you tried to use a jutsu. We were able to get them off of you when we rescued you," he said. Luke scowled.

"Yeah… thanks for that," she muttered. "I remember the ropes. There were four kidnappers, three men and one woman."

"Do you remember their names?"

Luke felt blood leave her face. "Just the redhead; his name was Kohei," she looked to Sakura, remembering the red haired ninja clearly then. "Sakura… how badly was I hurt?"

"Just a few bruises and the concussion; don't worry. They didn't do anything else to you," she said. Luke sighed in relief.

"Kohei and the female Akatsuki who fled when we took down their other two companions. We killed the leader, but were able to capture the heavy set one. He's not talking, though." Kakashi informed her. Luke nodded, remembering the bandana clad shinobi and the larger one as well.

"I think I know who their leader is. They started talking about a Lady Mitzuki, and they said that she would punish them if Kohei hurt me,"

"So they wanted you alive?" said the voice of the lightning boy, Raijin, who had just appeared in her line of vision almost as spontaneously as Kakashi did. Luke glared at the boy of whom she had fought the day before.

"I guess," she said, turning her head so she didn't have to look at him.

"Why? Did they say why they kidnapped you? Why they didn't just kill you?" he pressed further. Luke snapped her head and stared directly in his eyes, murderously. She sat up straighter.

"No! I don't know why they kidnapped me! Maybe they were bored or something! Why don't you ask the one you captured?" She said through her teeth.

Sakura stood up, looking at Raijin and pointing to the door, "Get out!" she screamed at him. Luke smiled. Raijin looked at Kakashi, and the copy ninja nodded to him. Without another word, he turned and walked out.

"We are in the process of interrogating him now, Luke. Get some rest. We'll talk more, later." Kakashi said.

"She's hiding something," Raijin said to Kakashi as they walked through the exit of the hospital.

"I know, and we need to interrogate her," he replied. The two of them turned down the street towards the Interrogation Core, their sandals tapping the cobblestone walkway with each step.

"I doubt she would submit easily to the Leaf's interrogation techniques. I suggest consulting the prisoner before we try anything on her," Raijin says. Kakashi nodded, smiling beneath his face mask.

"You are very much like your father, Raijin. I think he'd be proud to see you here today."

Raijin suppressed a smile, but felt pride grow in his heart. He wished his father could have seen him then, walking side by side with the copy ninja of the Hidden Leaf, investigating the Akatsuki supporters. He would be very proud to call Raijin his son.

They stepped into the interrogation core, and Raijin greeted the sensory type ninja in the center of the room, who stood around the interrogation machine. Strapped into it was the captured shinobi, whose mind was currently being analyzed by Ino Yamanka.

"He didn't say anything after you guys left," Ino said to Raijin and Kakashi, pausing from her Mind Reading Jutsu. "The verbal interrogation was a total bust. He wouldn't even tell us his name. So, we brought him in here for some real answers."

"Good work, Ino. What have you found so far?" Kakashi asked, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the back wall.

"His name is Goro Kimira from the Hidden Sand. His family was killed in the war, and he lived on the streets until being visited by Akatsuki supporters about a year ago. It was then that he and dozens of other peasants of the Sand went rogue and left."

"What does he know about the Akatsuki Supporters?" Raijin asked, standing next to Ino and looking down at the captured shinobi.

"It seems like the organization is huge, and its members could make up the population of an entirely new shinobi alliance. It has ninja from all corners of the map, in every single nation. However, they have one thing in common," Ino said, placing her hand on Goro's head. "They are all misfits and criminals. Many of their respective families were killed in the fourth great ninja war, and they had nothing but scorn in their lives before joining the Akatsuki."

"What about their leader?" Raijin asked.

"No one has really seen her in real life, but her name is Lady Mitzuki. The youngest of the Akatsuki supporters call her the Great Mother, because she is mostly known as some kind of angelic woman who governs the entire organization like a mother." Ino looked at Kakashi.

"Who is she? Who is this Lady Mitzuki?" Raijin said, looking from Ino to Kakashi.

"Konan," Kakashi whispered.


End file.
